IRAQI - BOOBY TRAPS

File: cia_63803_63803_01.txt
Page: 01
Total Pages: 1
Subject: IRAQI - BOOBY TRAPS

Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence







TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN

REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN

TO GULF WAR ILLNESS ISSUES OR THAT IS CLASSIFIED. A COPY OF

THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON

REQUEST.







JAN 91    CIA 464664







CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

WARNING:. INFORMATION REPORT. NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE







COUNTRY: KUWAIT/IRAQ



SUBJ:   1. IRAQI BOOBy TRAPS







DOI:          LATE NOVEMBER 1990







TEXT: 1. AFTER THE 2 AUGUST INVASION OF KUWAIT, IRAQI PREPARATIONS

FOR DEFENDING KUWAIT CITY INCLUDED EXTENSIVE USE OF BOOBY TRAPS IN

AND AROUND KUWAIT CITY HOTELS. FROM EARLY TO MID-AUGUST 1990

IRAQI TROOPS HAD BOOBY-TRAPPED CHAIRS--

STACKED SEAT DOWN ON HOTEL TABLES--WITH PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES IN SUCH A

WAY THAT MOVING A CHAIR WOULD DETONATE THE EXPLOSIVES. ALSO TRAPPED

WITH PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES WERE ITEMS SUCH AS WIND SURFBOARDS LEFT ON OR

NEAR HOTEL BEACHES, AUTOMOBILE DOORS WHICH HAD BEEN LEFT SLIGHTLY

AJAR, AND HOTEL ENTRANCES. THE BEACHFRONT DOORS OF THE SAS HOTEL HAD

BEEN RIGGED IN THIS MANNER. THE IRAQIS ALSO HAD SOWN EXTENSIVE

MINEFIELDS IN BEACH AREAS AND ON GOLF COURSES BUT NONE OF THE MINES

APPEARED TO HAVE BEEN BURIED. SOME OF THE MINES COULD BE DESCRIBED

AS "PLATE MINES";



2. ALSO INSTALLED WERE THREE- TO FOUR-FEET HIGH CONCRETE

BOXES AT RANDOM POINTS ALONG THE CURBS OF THE SIDEWALKS IN KUWAIT

CITY. ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS IRAQI TROOPS, WEARING GAS MASKS AND

ELBOW-LENGTH RUBBER GLOVES, WERE SEEN LOADING THE BOXES WITH WHITE

AND BLUE PLASTIC CONTAINERS. THE PLASTIC CONTAINERS BORE NO

MARKINGS, HAD AN APPROXIMATE CAPACITY OF 25 GALLONS AND RESEMBLED

U.S. VIETNAM-ERA ARMY WATER CONTAINERS, THE DIAMETER OF THE CENTRAL

PART OF THE DRUMS BEING SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE

ENDS OF THE DRUMS. AT LEAST FOUR OR FIVE OF THESE BOXES WERE PLACED

IN PROXIMITY TO THE U.S. EMBASSY IN KUWAIT CITY; OTHER AREAS OF

CONCENTRATION WERE ZONES ADJACENT TO HOTELS AND BANKS. THE BOXES

TEND TO BLEND WITH THEIR SURROUNDINGS SINCE THEY RESEMBLE THE TYPE OF

CONCRETE OBSTACLES PLACED ON CURBS TO PREVENT VEHICLES FROM MOUNTING

THE SIDEWALK.NO SPECIAL MARKINGS WERE OBSERVED ON

EITHER THE UNIFORMS OF THE TROOPS HANDLING THE CONTAINERS OR THEIR

VEHICLES. THE ONLY NBC PROTECTIVE GEAR THAT WAS SEEN ON IRAQI TROOPS

IN AND AROUND KUWAIT WAS THE GAS MASK AND GLOVES; NO FULL NBC SUITS

WERE OBSERVED.)







END OF MESSAGE







1.5 (c)

63803:63803